of 115 miles over the railroad mileage of last year, and there are now under construction in the State several short lines of railroad, which, when completed, will materially add to the present mileage. The gross earnings of steam railroads in North Carolina for the year ending June 30, 1907, were $28,291,730, an increase of $2,653,177 over the gross earnings of the previous year. The total passenger earnings amounted to $7,500,402, and the total freight earnings amounted to $20,181,421. The remainder of the earnings, amounting to $344,040, is derived from other sources. The total expenses for the fiscal year amounted to $20,303,224, an increase of $3,381,788 over the previous year. FACILITIES. It has been the constant purpose of the Corporation Commission to secure, as far as possible, facilities for the convenience of passengers and shippers, and to enable the carriers to move promptly the business offered them. ACCIDENTS. We regret to say there has been some increase in the number of accidents to persons, along with the increase in traffic, passengers and employees. It may be the one is not out of proportion to the other, but the Commission has endeavored in every way in its power to lessen the risk to life and property by urging the extension of safety devices, the establishment of proper rules, and the elimination of grade crossings wherever practicable, as well as by the improvement of the roadbeds, bridges and trestles. As a result, the block system has been extended over 512 miles of road. It is impossible for any road to abolish all of its grade crossings at once, but, as the population and travel increase and the danger at these crossings multiplies, it is important that the most dangerous of them be eliminated as rapidly as possible. One hundred and sixty-three persons were killed and 1,255 were injured on account of the various railroads in the State in 1907. . Of those killed, 53 were employees, 21 were passengers and 82 were trespassers. Of those injured, 737 were employees, 301 were passengers and 111 were trespassers. Six hundred and twenty-four persons were injured by other causes than the movement of trains. A complete tabulation of this subject will be found in this report. PASSENGER FACILITIES. The Corporation Commission has also caused a number of new trains to be operated for the benefit of the traveling public, to-wit, double daily passenger train between Goldsboro and Greensboro (this train alone is estimated to cost $75,000 a year); Weldon and Kinston, Tarboro and Plymouth, Rocky Mount and Spring Hope, Hamlet and Wilmington, Raleigh and Weldon, Boykins and Lewiston, Fayetteville and Bennettsville, Salisbury and Asheville, and Parmele and Washington. The combined mileage of these trains amounts to 1,520 miles daily. The Commission has also secured connection between the railways at Sanford, Maxton, New Bern, Hobgood, Kinston and other points in the State. In order to promote the safety of the traveling public, as well as to aid in the transportation of freights, the Corporation Commission has caused the replacement of old ties and rails by new ties and heavier rails, and has caused considerable ditching and ballasting to be done on much of the Seaboard Air Line Railway between Hamlet and Wilmington and some between Monroe and Rutherfordton; also, on the High Point, Randleman, Ashboro and Southern and the Atlantic and Yadkin branches of the Southern, and upon various other roads in the State. ASSESSMENT FOR TAXATION. One of the most important duties of the Corporation Commission is the assessment of railroad and other similar properties for taxation. The assessed value of railroad property in the State prior to the establishment of a Commission amounted to $12,321,704. The mileage in the State then was 3,432 miles. The aggregate assessment of railroad property in 1907 is $83,109,562, while the mileage is 4,106.22 miles. While the mileage has increased 19.6 per cent., the assessment for taxation has increased 574.49 per cent. The aggregate assessment of all properties assessed by the Corporation Commission in 1903 was $73,802,686, and in 1907 it is $87,688,375, an increase of $13,885,688, or of 18.8 per cent. in valuation since the previous general assessment. The property of the different railroads is apportioned according to mileage, and the amount certified to each county, municipality and tax district through which they operate. The counties to which are certified the largest amounts are as follows, in the order named: 1. Those with railroad property amounting to over $3,000,000 each-Robeson and Guilford. 2. Those with railroad property amounting to over $2,000,000 each-Wake, Mecklenburg, Johnston, Columbus, Halifax and Cumberland. 3. Those with railroad property amounting to over $1,700,000 each-Durham, Rowan, Pender, Wayne, Granville, Forsyth and Pitt. Last year the property assessed for taxation by the Corporation Commission amounted approximately to $76,250,549; this year it will approximate $91,724,853. LAW SUITS. In enforcing its orders the Corporation Commission has had a number of law suits from time to time. It is gratifying to note that, in all these cases except one, the Commission has been sustained. The most important of them was the Selma connection case, which was finally decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, in January, 1907. The decisions in this case have done much to establish the power of the Commission and have enabled it to be of great benefit to the State in securing many of the facilities above referred to. STREET RAILWAYS. The street railways reporting to the Commission show capital stock amounting to $3,371,500, as against $2,379,700 in 1903. Their gross earnings for the fiscal year were $1,047,806 in 1906, and in 1907 were $1,269,667. Operating expenses for the same period in 1906 were $746,763, and in 1907 amounted to $939,402. The mileage has grown from 56.88 miles street railways operated in 1903 to 81.08 miles in 1906 and 86.86 miles in 1907. The street railways of Raleigh, Durham and Winston-Salem each carried more than a million passengers this year. Charlotte and Wilmington carried more than two million each, and Asheville carried in excess of three millions. TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANIES. There are 75 telephone companies in the State, with a capital stock of $2,563,663. Their reports show that they have 10,000 business 'phones and 15,000 residence 'phones in use. Their mileage consists of 5,000 miles of poles and 28,000 miles of wires. for taxes at $1,298,780. They are assessed There are only four telegraph companies in the State, the largest being the Western Union Telegraph Company, with nearly 4,000 miles of poles and nearly 22,000 miles of wires. The aggregate assessed value of the companies amounts to $902,863. BANKS. The General Assembly, at its session in 1899, placed the State, private and savings banks under the supervision of the Corporation Commission. At that time there were only 65 banks, with $2,307,297 capital stock, $7,477,512 deposits and $11,275,490 total resources. Now there are 283 banks, with a capital stock of $7,657,764, deposits amounting to $34,958,137, and total resources aggregating $51,883,687. Five reports are made by each bank annually, and at least one examination is made in person by the bank examiner during the calendar year. The last report from the banks showed that, although a panic had been in effect for some time, and with serious results in some parts of the country, no State bank had been forced to close its doors and the deposits had shrunk only $336,635, out of a total of $35,295,772. It is a significant fact that new banks continue to be chartered and opened for business. In examining this report it will be seen that it has been a busy year with the Commission, every department of its work being crowded with business, and perhaps no previous year has been more fruitful of results. The growth in railroad construction, the enlargement of facilities for handling business, the increased movement of passengers and freight, the extension of devices and improvements for the safety of life and property, the increasing number of complaints and decisions, the constantly recurring questions involving the study, construction and changes in tariffs and classification of rates, the assessment of public-service corporations for taxation, the supervision of express, telephone and telegraph companies, street railways, and the wonderful development and growth in banking, all give some indication of the volume and importance of the work of the Commission. |